In Too Deep
by Olivia U. L
Summary: Detective Aoi Senou is assigned to go undercover and seduce the main suspect in a string of vicious murders, but ends up fending off a seduction herself. AU Chie/Aoi.
1. Who's Hallard?

This fanfic is based on the awesome novel _In Too Deep_ by Ronica Black. I highly recommend it! It's a great crime mystery/lesbian romance story.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mai-Otome characters and I certainly don't own the novel that this fanfic draws from.

Oh, and a word of warning: In this fic, Chie isn't quite the good-natured, laid-back woman she usually is portrayed as…

* * *

A ten year old girl stood impatiently with one hand on her hip. "Hurry up, Onee-chan!" she playfully nagged. With the other hand, she bounced a basketball up and down on the pavement as she waited. The sound of the ball hitting the ground was the only noise in the empty parking lot behind the abandoned set of warehouses.

Another girl, slightly older than the first, was intently focused on the pair of glasses held in her hands. Her agile fingers twisted the wire-rimmed spectacles carefully, trying to re-align the lenses that had been bumped from their frames during the two girls' outdoor game.

Finally fixing the stubborn glasses, the elder girl held them up triumphantly for her green-haired sister to admire her handiwork, smiling as they glinted in the late afternoon sunlight. Then, with an elaborate flourish and a very self-satisfied grin, she put them back on over her own soft chocolate eyes.

Flicking a stray lock of charcoal hair out of her face, the twelve year old motioned for her younger sister to pass the basketball and continue their game. The buildings on the outskirts of the small town had been unused for most of their lives, and almost no one ever came to the remote parking lot. It was a great place for the two girls to come and play when they just needed to get out of the house they'd been living in with their aunt ever since the death of their parents.

As they played, shooting the large orange ball at the makeshift hoop they'd constructed, a lone truck pulled into the empty lot. The old, dirt-stained vehicle stopped a short distance from the two girls who had stopped their game and now stared at it curiously.

The driver's side door opened and out stepped a middle-aged man with greasy dark hair wearing faded jeans, stained wifebeaters, and a very oily smirk.

"Well well, what do we have here?" His voice carried an annoying singsong tone as he addressed the two girls. "You girls shouldn't be out here all alone so far from town, where no one can hear you scream. Someone _dangerous_ might show up…" The man slid a hand into his back pocket and his smirk slowly widened.

The twelve year old with glasses stepped protectively in front of her younger sister. "Are you lost?" she asked the stranger, trying her best to sound confident and unafraid, although a mounting sense of alarm was building in her gut. A cold feeling gripped her heart.

He ignored her and took a few steps closer, bringing his hand up to brush at the cheek of the green-haired girl hiding behind her Onee-chan. "Well, ain't you a pretty little thing."

Suddenly very frightened, the girl with short black hair yelled, "Get away from her!" She shoved him back with her hands, though her frail, childish body was not strong enough to topple him over.

The man's twisted grin vanished and was replaced with a snarl once he regained his balance. He hissed angrily. "Fine then! I was going to play nice but it looks like you want it rough!"

With that, he backhanded the dark-haired girl across face, sending her to the ground with a cry. Then he grabbed the now terrified ten year old, who screamed and flailed wildly at her attacker.

Her head still spinning from the blow, the older sister pulled herself to her feet again and dove at the man, pummeling him with her fists and feet in a desperate attempt to fend him off.

She was no match for the much larger person, though, and he shoved her roughly to the ground once more. Before she could get up again, his booted foot made contact with her head in a vicious kick.

The man dragged the still shrieking green-haired girl over to his truck, tossing her into the car like a sack and slamming the door. Spitting at the dark-haired girl lying in a crumpled heap on the ground, he climbed into the truck and drove off, the truck's wheels kicking up a gust of dry dirt fragments.

"Tomoe…" the twelve year old groaned weakly. Blood from her injury matted her short black locks and started coursing down her face. Darkness closed in around her as she passed out, her glasses falling to the pavement and shattering.

* * *

_...Fifteen years later..._

_

* * *

_

One might not think that a young woman walking into a morgue would have much reason to be excited, yet Detective Aoi Senou was definitely excited. She was nervous and apprehensive, too, but mostly eager.

The twenty-five year old detective had just been assigned to a new case, one outside her usual field of expertise. She normally worked in the Narcotics department of her home city's police force, devoting her time to gathering the evidence needed to bring drug dealers to court. However, this assignment involved a very different crime.

Murder.

Three murders, actually. Aoi was unclear on most of the particulars of the case, but she knew that three similar men had been murdered in the exact same fashion within a few weeks of each other. After being transferred to the Homicide department, her first order had been to meet up with the other two detectives who would be working this case with her. She had been called down to the morgue to get a glimpse of the most recent victim.

The pretty young woman flipped her brown hair over her shoulder, the long braid falling almost to the small of her back. She progressed down the building's empty hallway, glancing at the signs outside each door along the corridor. Once she reached the room she had been told to come to, the blue-eyed woman pulled open the heavy door and stepped in.

Her two colleagues were already waiting for her, standing beside one of the metal tables used for autopsies and displaying corpses for the coroners to inspect. At the moment, a white cloth covered what Aoi assumed to be the body of the third victim in the string of killings.

Both women glanced up as the brunette entered the room. Another reason Aoi had been excited to work on this case was that it would reunite her with her former classmates from the academy. Juliet Nao Zhang and Mai Tokiha had graduated top of their class along with Aoi, and the latter had been roommates with the blue-eyed woman.

She greeted them happily. "Heya, Mai-chan, Nao-chan!" Mai returned her smile and the other short-haired redhead standing next to her gave a nod of recognition. Although the three worked in different departments, they had still met up fairly regularly for karaoke parties during the past three years and kept in touch through emails and phone calls. It seemed somewhat macabre that such a pleasant meeting be brought about by the deaths of innocent people.

"Glad to see you," Mai said, "But maybe we can save the catching up until we're somewhere more comfortable."

Aoi nodded in agreement; she wanted to hear all the information about the case and get straight to business as soon as possible.

Nao gestured to the body atop the table. "This is victim number three. Name is Sergei Wong, fifty-two year old businessman native to the city." The green-eyed detective pulled back the white cloth covering the corpse, and Aoi involuntarily let loose a gasp of horror.

The man was covered in dried blood from his waist to his knees, and his genitals had been mutilated, presumably with some sort of blade. His wrists bore purple welts from being tightly bound. Even in death, his face seemed twisted in agony.

Her blue eyes dropped to the bloody shreds that had once been the man's groin and she had to look away, feeling bile rise in her throat. Aoi had seen some truly violent acts during her previous undercover cases, but never anything like this. Such a murder seemed so brutal and vicious… not to mention that the killer had done this to two other men already – that the police knew about, at least.

Nao continued her flow of information as if Aoi had remained silent. "His naked body was dumped near the edge of the woods outside town. Some hiker found him while out for a morning walk yesterday. He was completely bare, but the killer had deliberately stuffed the guy's wallet with his driver's license into his mouth after he died. He or she was obviously trying to flaunt the victim's identity rather than conceal it, and robbery is out of the question since no cash or credit cards were removed."

"The coroner tells us the guy was injected with some form of horse tranquilizer and then tied up with nylon cords around his wrists and ankles," Mai put in, "Then he was stabbed and slashed repeatedly in the groin. The tranquilizer would have rendered him immobile but there wasn't enough to knock him out, so he was probably conscious during the mutilation."

Well, that explained the agony on the man's face, Aoi realized with a wince.

Nao finished off the gruesome tale. "Eventually he bled to death and then the body was dumped. The gals down at Forensics tell us they can't find a single hair, skin particle, or even a clothing fiber that could indicate who is responsible. Whoever did this knew what they were doing and went to great lengths to ensure they wouldn't be caught."

Aoi's brow furrowed. "But if the killer didn't want to be found out, why dump the body so carelessly and leave the man with nothing but identification? Are they trying to make it easier for us? Or maybe just gloat?"

"We have no idea yet," Mai said ruefully. "All three men were murdered in the same way, and none had any clues on them that could point to a culprit."

Aoi's other former classmate eyed her up and down with appraisal. "Why exactly are you here? I thought you worked in Narcotics, busting drug dealers or something."

"They told me I was assigned to this case to go undercover..." Aoi shifted her stance uncertainly. That little tidbit was all her superior officers told her. They had been extremely sparing with details, but gave assurances that she would receive a full briefing on the case and its suspects from the other detectives once she was transferred to Homicide.

"Undercover?" Nao arched a slender eyebrow, glancing at Mai after a moment of contemplation. "Hallard?"

Mai nodded grimly and the green-eyed detective crowed with cruel laughter. "Shit, Hallard will eat this pretty little girl alive before she even knows she's on the menu."

"Who's Hallard?" Aoi asked Nao with a frown, wondering what could possibly be so funny about a criminal investigation involving serial murders.

It was the other redhead next to her who answered. "Chie Hallard. She's our main suspect – our _only_ suspect, actually – in these murders."

Now it was Aoi's turn to lift her eyebrows. A woman was responsible for these grisly homicides? She was not so innocent that she believed women were not capable of the same violence men were, but still… This killing seemed like an act of such extreme rage and personal hatred toward the victim. And if the other two murders had been conducted in the same fashion, it meant they were dealing with a very disturbed individual. She had never seen anything like it on her other cases.

Nao elaborated on the busty detective's explanation, though a corner of her mouth was still quirked upwards. "We can't think of anyone else with a motive or the guts to murder these guys, but we haven't found all the evidence necessary to put Hallard on trial yet."

"So I'm going undercover to find some incriminating evidence? Or even to just befriend Hallard-san and trick her into a confession?" That didn't sound too different from what Aoi usually did on Narcotics assignments, though admittedly she'd never dealt with criminals of this type before.

Despite the fact that she only graduated from the academy three years ago along with the other two women, Aoi had already proven herself to be a skilled police officer. She specialized in undercover missions, assuming a fake identity and getting close to the high-profile criminals suspected of drug trafficking. Truth be told though, the supposedly terrifying street lords were nothing more than coke-addled idiots willing to brag openly about their deeds in exchange for some flirty behavior or a few kisses. It had been easy to inveigle a confession from them while wearing a concealed wire – thereby obtaining the evidence necessary to put the bastards behind bars.

At least on this case she would not have to seduce the suspect, though. Aoi was a dedicated cop, willing to do almost anything if it meant that truly heinous criminals were brought to justice, but thankfully she never had to take it further than kissing on any of her previous assignments. She was glad that for once she would be more than just a piece of eye candy wearing a tiny microphone; she wanted a difficult case that would truly test her ability as a detective.

Nao started laughing again. "Befriend her? Damn, they really didn't tell you _anything_ about this case, did they?" Her catlike smirk had returned in full.

Finally getting frustrated, Aoi snapped at her. "Would you quit being an ass and just tell me what's going on, Nao-chan?" The redhead only kept snickering.

Mai cleared her throat nervously, cheeks slightly pink. "Well…Chie Hallard is, uh…"

"She's a lesbian," Nao supplied. "A real player, too. Her conquests must be in the triple digits by now."

Aoi's blue eyes widened. Not in surprise at the revelation of the suspect's sexuality – she had met and worked alongside many gay people during her life, although she herself was not so inclined – but rather in embarrassment at her own naivety.

The brunette felt like slapping her forehead as she mentally berated herself. How could she have been stupid enough to let herself believe that this assignment would be different from all the others? She had fooled herself into thinking that she would actually be needed on a case for more than just her pretty face and her ability to bat her eyelashes at scumbags. But no, again she was to be used as a juicy piece of bait for the suspect to drool over.

She sighed. "Well, I guess that's what I'm good at… Besides, it cannot be very different from flirting with drug dealers, although I've never had to get close to a female suspect before."

Mai rubbed the back of her head slowly. "Chie-chan is not your usual run-of-the-mill criminal. And if we are correct in thinking that she's been murdering people… well, that makes her even more dangerous. Don't underestimate her."

Aoi's ears perked up in curiosity despite her friend's somber warning. "'Chie-chan'? Do you know her personally, Mai-chan?"

The lavender-eyed woman blushed again when she realized her slip. Nao's lips twitched as though she was about to burst into laughter again.

"Uh… let's head back to headquarters and give you a full briefing," Mai said quickly. "I think we've seen enough here." With a last grimace at the corpse on the table, the fiery-haired detective carefully replaced the white cloth that covered the body.

Aoi stared at the cloth-draped mound, the sickening image of the mutilated victim still burned onto her mind's eye. She gulped nervously. All her previous excitement about the case was now completely gone. Seducing another woman, one possibly capable of extremely brutal acts of violence, not to mention trying to find evidence without said dangerous woman catching on to her game…she had never been involved in anything like this before.

Was she getting in over her head?

* * *

Please drop me a line and let me know how the story's sounding so far, even if it's just: "Yay, Tomoe got abducted. I hate that psycho bitch!" (lol Tomoe gets so much hate from the fans, seriously.)

Updates will probably be sporadic and interspersed with a couple of oneshots that I have in the making.


	2. I'm Sorry I Asked

Okay, last chapter I got a review saying that this story reminded the person of the book _In Too Deep_ by Ronica Black. I'm very grateful for reviews, but… **I said right at the top of the page that the fic is based on that novel.** There are plenty of Mai-HiME fanfics based on movies or books. Besides, the book itself is really an extended AU fanfic of another show. (A very good one, too. Again, I highly suggest you read it.)

Anyways, thanks for all the positive feedback, everyone! It really inspired me. :) Let me know if I missed you and didn't send a response. I appreciate any negative feedback you want to throw at me too, as long as it has a point to it.

Once again, I do not own the awesome book and Sunrise owns the Mai-Otome characters. This is purely a work of fan fiction.

* * *

Wind City sat nestled in the foothills of the mountains whose snow-capped peaks rose above the treetops of the sizable wooded area near the town. Wind had none of the skyscrapers or careworn, dingy streets that marked the larger cities, giving it a more open and pleasant feel rather than that of a cramped and stuffy city.

Aoi would much rather have been admiring the beautiful scenery of their town than trying to read in the car. It was threatening to give her a headache, and the subject matter was hardly conducive to relaxing her. She had the case file open in front of her and was studying the details of their main suspect in the three recent murders.

"Chie Hallard, owner of The Blue Rose," she read aloud from the paper sitting on her lap. Her long brown braid was pulled over her shoulder and trailed down almost to her hip.

"That's her nightclub," Mai interjected from the front seat of her BMW, keeping her light purple eyes on the road as she drove.

Next to her, Nao twisted her head back to smirk at their former classmate. "It's really just a means for her to find hot young women to seduce," the redhead said. She dipped her head so that her sunglasses slid partway down her nose, and then winked at Aoi. All three women were wearing shades to protect against the late afternoon sun sinking slowly down behind the mountains.

"Oh…" was all Aoi responded with, not really surprised at the revelation. Nao had told her earlier that Hallard was known for being quite a hit with the ladies. If things went well, Aoi would be able to use that against their suspect.

After a short ride, they soon arrived at the Wind City police station. Aoi was very familiar with the place, although she normally worked in the Narcotics Division of the large building. Today however, her friends were taking her to the Homicide department to brief her on the details of the murder case she had been transferred to help solve.

They removed their glasses once they entered, and the two redheads led the brunette into an elevator and up onto the floor that held the office of the captain overseeing this case. Aoi never met the woman, but had heard quite a bit about the fierce officer from the other two detectives, who worked under her on a daily basis.

One perfunctory knock later, the three stood in their supervisor's office. The spacious room held a large desk meant for two people to work at, a tall filing cabinet, and three chairs for visitors. As the young detectives entered, the blonde and brunette sitting behind the file-laden desk stood and greeted the newcomers.

"So, this is Detective Senou from Narcotics?" the golden-haired captain asked after giving her name as Haruka Armitage.

Aoi nodded and exchanged a friendly smile and a bow with the short-haired woman with glasses, who had been introduced as Lieutenant Yukino Chrysant.

"I hope you can live up to your reputation, Senou-san," Haruka cautioned. "Going undercover on this case won't be a walk in the park."

"All the same, I'm ready to do it." Aoi was determined to do her best on this case, although the circumstances were certainly something new for her. "I'd like to get straight to business."

The uniformed policewoman nodded approvingly. She gestured for the three younger detectives to sit, and then started speaking again once all five women in the room were settled.

"Well, you've already seen one of the victims for yourself, so no need to go into too much detail about _that_." Haruka grimaced in distaste. "Tell me, what do you know about our main suspect?"

"I know that her name is Chie Hallard, she is twenty-seven years old, and she owns a popular all-female nightclub called The Blue Rose," Aoi replied, "It was a short trip though, so I did not get much further than that."

"In that case, I will give you a basic runner-up."

Aoi blinked, slightly perplexed until the lieutenant sitting next to Haruka said, "She means 'run-down'."

The blonde shot her partner a warning look that was met with an innocent smile. With a huff, Haruka crossed her arms over her chest and launched into her explanation of their suspect's background information. "Well, to get the blunt details out of the way, Hallard's mother was killed in a car crash when she was six and the father drank himself to death within a year of the accident."

Aoi could not help but feel a pang of regret at this revelation. During her career in the police force, she had come to realize that most wrongdoers were people who had been wronged themselves sometime in the past and suffered. It did not excuse their crimes and it certainly did not justify these murders – if Chie Hallard had indeed committed them – but it was still a very sad fact of life.

"After that, she and her younger sister went to live with their aunt in a small town called Fuuka."

Aoi gave a start of surprise. "Her sister?" The first few pages of the file she read mentioned nothing about the suspect's siblings, so she had assumed there were none. "What do we know about her?"

"Nothing really," Haruka grumbled ruefully, disappointed at their inability to gather information about the elusive young woman. "Other than the fact that she exists. Tomoe Hallard has kept a very low profile throughout her life. She might even have died years ago, for all we know. Her sister oystered up and wouldn't say a word about the girl when we questioned her about these murders."

"I think you mean Hallard-san 'clammed' up, Haruka-chan," Yukino murmured with another fond smile. Haruka scowled and flicked her blonde mane dismissively. The meganekko picked up where her partner had left off.

"Anyways, the aunt died not long after Hallard-san graduated from high school, so she moved out here to the mountains and enrolled in Wind City University. She worked her way through college as a photographer, and on one of her jobs she met an older woman by the name of Yukariko Steinberg. She owned a successful all-female nightclub and soon the two were romantically involved. Less than half a year after their first meeting, Hallard-san got her degree, graduated from the university, and then…" Yukino trailed off.

Haruka finished for her. "Steinberg died suddenly. Under mysterious circumstances." She met Aoi's wide blue eyes with a flat stare.

A lump formed in the Aoi's throat. _You mean…?_ she wondered.

"That's when Hallard first came to our attention. Of course we were suspicious, but the autopsy cited natural causes as the reason for the woman's death and we were unable to find any proof of Hallard's involvement, so she was not charged with anything."

Haruka pulled a thick folder out of the haphazardly-piled stack sitting on the large wooden desk and slid it over to Aoi. She recognized it as a copy of the same file she started reading in the car less than an hour ago.

"So, Hallard went on her merry way, took over the dead woman's nightclub, and renamed it The Blue Rose. Everything was fine for almost five years until the first murder happened six weeks ago." The captain gestured for Aoi to open the file.

The young detective complied, but immediately wished she had not. Clipped to the very top of the stack of papers was a full-sized color photograph of the killer's first victim. The dark-haired man – Aoi quickly flipped to the paperwork underneath the photo and found his name written there; Masashi Takeda – had been mutilated just like Sergei Wong.

"The second body showed up two weeks after that," Haruka continued, "And then a month later, Sergei Wong's corpse was found just yesterday. All three were killed the same way: immobilized with horse tranquilizer, tied up tightly just in case they regained function of their limbs, and then stabbed repeatedly in the groin. They died of internal abdominal trauma and blood loss and then were dumped at the edge of the woods outside the city, all three within a two-mile radius of each other."

Nao was leaning back in her chair, arms crossed nonchalantly behind her head when she decided to contribute to the discussion.

"The killer shoves the guys' wallets into their mouths after they die, complete with ID and a crapload of cash and credit cards." She paused to catch Aoi's eye meaningfully. "Hallard's obviously trying to send a message that she doesn't give a damn about their money. She doesn't want or need it. In fact, she resents it; the victims all tried to use their wealth and power against her."

Despite her crass and sardonic attitude, Nao had one of the sharpest eyes for detail in the entire Homicide Division. She had impressed her coworkers and superiors on more than one case by spotting important crime scene clues which the other detectives had missed.

"Why do we think Hallard-san did it?" Aoi asked, having seen enough of the grotesque photographs. None of the other women seemed affected, but she supposed they'd had several weeks to study and get used to the sickening images of the dead men.

It was Mai who jumped in to answer her friend's question.

"Because she knew these guys and threatened all three of their lives, as well as those of several other men associated with them. The victims – Masashi Takeda, Yuuichi Tate, and Sergei Wong – all had something in common: all were members of an all-male, upper-class type social club. Along with their other rich, middle-aged business colleagues, they were rankled by the fact that Chie-chan had become wealthier than them so quickly through her popular nightclub. The fact that she and all her patrons are lesbians didn't help their self-esteem any.

"They tried to get The Blue Rose shut down through some underhanded means, like trying to get the club's liquor license removed and claiming that the place was lewd and indecent."

Aoi huffed angrily under her breath. Asses like that gave other straight people a bad name. _Still_, she thought, _you can't legally murder someone for being a douchebag._

"Obviously, that pissed her off," Aoi's busty former roommate said wryly. "She's intelligent and business-savvy, but she is never able to keep a tight rein on her temper. Chie-chan is the kind of person who could get angry enough to actually kill someone who slighted her, but also smart enough to cover her tracks once she cools down."

She gestured to the photographs of the three corpses. "Less than a week before the first murder occurred, she went storming right into their social club meeting and chewed the three of them out in front of a bunch of other members. According to witnesses, she threatened to castrate and kill the lot of them if they continued to blacklist her."

Aoi winced, the images of the bodies with their stabbed and hacked genitals still fresh in her mind. She decided to change the subject.

"So what is it I'm going for when I'm undercover? Do you want me to find evidence tying Hallard-san to the killings or do you just want me to get her talking and gain her trust?"

"At this point, we need anything you can get," Haruka said, "If she really is the murderer like we think, she didn't leave us a scrap of proof to prosecute with. Talk to her, flirt, get her bragging. A confession would be ideal."

The young detective nodded slowly, regaining some of her confidence about the case. She had done this several times before on Narcotics assignments and always been successful. _I can do this_, she promised herself. _I'm sure of it._

"You'll be wearing a wire when you go to her nightclub," Yukino informed her. "But if you feel unsafe wearing it at any point, like if Hallard-san gets too close or you think your cover is at risk, then get rid of it immediately. Your safety is paramount; we don't want you taking any risks with a possible murderer."

Nao flicked a strand of red hair from her forehead. "I don't think Aoi will be directly in harm's way. Hallard's never been violent with another woman, as far as we know." She pulled one of her trademark wicked smirks onto her face. "So she'll try to screw your brains out, but she won't actually hurt you unless you really piss her off."

"Thanks for the reassurance, Nao-chan," Aoi deadpanned. She did like her former classmate, but the woman often made deliberately provocative jests just to get under peoples' skin. Aoi turned back to her superiors. "So, what's the specific plan for tomorrow night?"

"Mai-san will help you prepare tonight and hook you up with your surveillance manager," Yukino replied, "Then tomorrow, you introduce yourself on scene at The Blue Rose and act like just another Friday night club-going woman. Hallard-san has a habit of seducing her patrons on a regular basis, so hopefully she will show an interest in you."

"What if she doesn't even look twice at me?" From what the other detectives told Aoi earlier and the part of the file she read, Chie Hallard had an almost endless supply of young women clamoring for her attentions, even though the nightclub owner had a well-known reputation for being a promiscuous Casanova. How was the undercover detective supposed to distinguish herself from all the lusty fangirls?

Mai and Yukino smiled, and Nao let loose a throaty laugh at her friend's naivety. "I'm sure she'll notice you, Aoi. You do kinda stand out."

Despite her smile, Mai was a bit unsettled. She knew Chie-chan would definitely go after Aoi as soon as she laid eyes on her. The blue-eyed young woman was not only very pretty, but she also had a definite soft and cute side to her – exactly the kind of sexy vulnerability that Chie-chan would find tempting. What worried her was whether or not Aoi would be able to resist the dark-haired charmer and maintain her false identity while investigating their suspect.

Aoi flushed slightly at Nao's words, dropping her eyes to stare at the dark wood of the desk. A lot of men and women throughout the years told her how pretty she was or how beautiful her sky blue eyes were, but it still made her cheeks pink to hear it.

_Crap_. _If I can barely handle compliments from my friends, how am I going to keep a level head when Hallard throws her charms at me?_

It was Haruka who spoke next, freeing the blushing brunette from her discomfort. "I know this is rather sudden, but I'm afraid that another body will turn up while we sit here twiddling our thumbs and making guesses. We need someone capable of going in there and finding something solid."

The newly-transferred detective nodded resolutely, lifting her eyes from the desk. They shone with a fierce determination. "I can do it, Captain."

In the other chair, Mai shifted uncomfortably. "Are you sure, Aoi-chan? This won't be the same as flirting with some man like on your other cases." The last thing Mai wanted was for one of her closest friends to be harmed during this investigation, physically or emotionally.

Aoi repeated herself firmly. "I can do it." She agreed with the blonde officer – she did not want a murderer running loose and possibly killing more people just because Aoi was a little uncomfortable with letting another woman come on to her.

Mai's brow furrowed slightly. Her friend's confidence worried her. Although Aoi had earned an admirable reputation for her undercover work in the Narcotics Division, she would have to prove herself all over again now that she'd been transferred to Homicide. Mai was afraid that the other detective would be so eager to complete this assignment successfully that she would make a reckless mistake which might endanger her cover – or worse, her life.

Aoi truly had no idea what she was going up against, unlike Mai. The lavender-eyed woman knew for a fact that Chie Hallard was a skilled seductress who was not only willing to take full advantage of an innocent but would thoroughly enjoy doing so.

She let slip a small sigh; she was just going to have to trust Aoi's information-gathering abilities. Besides, Mai would be there to help her as much as she could.

"Keep your contact with Hallard minimal tomorrow night," Haruka ordered, "Don't try to get too personal on the first encounter. Just let her catch your scent and then get out of there."

Aoi made a sound of affirmation; she figured it would probably take several meetings with their suspect before she could get close enough to uncover some evidence or elicit a confession. Which was why they had to get started as soon as possible if they wanted to solve this case in time to save any more lives that happened to be on the killer's to-do list.

"Alright then, Mai-san will take you to the house you'll be staying in and help you plan for Friday. Good luck, Detective."

* * *

"Are you fully packed or should we stop by your house on the way there?" Mai asked her college roommate as the two of them made their way back to the elevator. Nao had opted to stay at the station and reread the forensic report on the latest victim.

"Nope, everything I need is already in that bag I put in your car after we left the morgue," Aoi said. "I just moved into the new house a month ago, so it was pretty easy to put some clothes and things into a travel case."

She flipped her braid over her shoulder when they exited the police station and walked into the half-empty parking lot that glowed crimson and orange in the setting sun.

A figure was leaning casually against Mai's parked BMW as she waited for the two detectives to approach. Aoi smiled brightly upon recognizing her. "Hi, Mikoto-chan!"

The black-haired girl nodded happily at them both in greeting. "I'll be working the sound for you on this case." Mikoto grinned and patted the zipped up equipment bag slung over her shoulder, which Aoi figured must hold the wire and miniature tape recorder she would use to gather evidence from their suspect.

The young surveillance technician smiled at Mai, and her busty girlfriend smiled back. The couple exchanged a quick embrace before all three women climbed into the car.

"So we're going to the house I'll be staying in while undercover?" Aoi asked as Mai started up the engine and drove out of the parking lot.

The redhead nodded. "Yep. It's not far. While you're on assignment, you will be going by the name Aoi Connor. We've acquired you a house and a car, and gotten permission to change the records of ownership to say you've been living there for two years. We've also put it on record that Aoi Connor has a job. Obviously you will not be going in to work there, but I thought it best that your false identity be as realistic as possible, considering the suspect."

Aoi wondered what her friend meant by that, but decided to ask her later. "So what does 'Aoi Connor' do?"

Lips twitching in a barely-restrained grin, Mai answered her. Dumbfounded, Aoi stared at the woman in the driver's seat for a moment, wondering if she heard correctly.

"I design stuffed animals?" the blue-eyed woman repeated in a disbelieving murmur.

"That's so… KAWAII!" Aoi squealed and clapped her hands together in delight. She had quite a soft spot for cute things, especially cuddly little plushies. The first things she packed last night for her stay in the cover house were some of her favorite stuffed toys, the ones which slept next to her atop the bed every night.

Both Mai and Mikoto giggled at her response.

The three continued to chat amicably for the rest of the drive. Aoi, being something of a gossip, was eager to hear about how Mai and her girlfriend had been doing. The dark-haired girl met Mai after the latter graduated from college with Aoi three years ago, and had been a frequent participator in Mai's karaoke parties for her friends. However, the two only started dating a little less than a year ago.

As the setting sun finally bid the city a last golden goodbye and dropped behind the mountains, they pulled into the driveway of a small house on the edge of town, a few miles from the forest.

It was a one-story well-to-do house similar to the others on the pleasant, tree-lined street, with white walls and a gray tiled roof. It was spacious, but not too big for just one person to live in. Aoi's recently purchased home on the other side of town was about the same size.

As the three women stepped out of Mai's car, Aoi noticed a blue Mini Cooper with a white roof sitting on the stone-paved driveway. She smiled fondly at the cute little car, knowing she would enjoy driving it. She also knew that if someone were to run its plates, it would be registered to Aoi Connor, just like the address of the house. Wind City's police force was always efficient when it came to undercover work.

Mai unlocked the trunk of her BMW so Aoi could lift her bag out, and then handed the blue-eyed woman a ring of keys which she assumed to be for the house and the Mini Cooper.

After a brief exploration of the house, including the tiled kitchen, large bedroom, and two bathrooms, they made themselves comfortable in the living room. The two detectives settled onto the comfy leather couch while Mikoto folded her legs under her and sat on the carpeted floor next to them, leaning back against the glass coffee table.

"Right..." Mai rubbed the back of her head somewhat awkwardly. "I need to tell you some more personal details about our suspect, Aoi-chan, in order to help you prepare for tomorrow night's mission."

Aoi nodded eagerly. "I'm listening. I'd like to know all I can about Hallard-san before I actually meet her."

"Well, first off, you need to know that this is not going to be like your other cases where you've seduced and gotten close to male suspects. Instead, what you must do is keep your distance from Chie-chan after she makes the first move. Don't give in right away – play hard to get."

Aoi blinked in confusion. "Won't that just make her lose interest and move on to another woman? I thought the trick here was to find a way to make her notice me out of all the other lesbians at her club."

The busty detective shook her head, short orange tresses swaying as she did. "But that _is_ how you're going to make her notice you, Aoi-chan. If Chie-chan comes on to you like I know she will, you have to act indifferent or unimpressed, like you don't care."

"What makes you so sure she will keep trying?" Aoi asked skeptically.

"Ego," Mai said simply. "Arrogance is her only weakness apart from her temper. Chie-chan is irresistible and she knows it; no woman ever turns her down. If you play hard to get, it will intrigue her to no end. She'll definitely want – no, _need_ – to seduce you, just to prove to herself that she can.

"It's all about conquest and dominance to her. She rarely sleeps with the same girl more than once or twice before turning her attention to another. She's very demanding and impatient. Once she sets her sights on you, she'll move quickly and reel you in with her charms."

Mai's purple eyes held a faraway look, as though she was lost deep in thought. "You might not even see her on your first visit, but the next morning you'll wake up to a bouquet of roses on your doorstep and a note beckoning you back to the club."

Aoi's eyes widened. _That's kinda creepy actually_, she thought.

"She's… intense. A real piece of work." Mai frowned as she said that, clearly not meaning it as a compliment. Mikoto scowled as well.

"You see, when Chie-chan first meets a woman who catches her interest, she goes to any lengths to find out everything about her. It's stalking, really. That's why we had to give you a false identity complete with a house, a car, and a fake job. As soon as you leave The Blue Rose tomorrow night, she'll start prowling, so to speak. She always gets her way; she's got some friends in high places who provide her with pretty much any recorded information she asks for. She won't be satisfied until she knows everything from where you live to how much money you make in a year."

"Doesn't it freak the women out that she does all that?" the brunette wondered aloud. It certainly unsettled her, and she had not even met this Chie Hallard yet.

Mai shook her head. "Chie-chan doesn't let on that she knows so much. She picks and chooses from the information she has and uses it to her advantage, letting you believe that she knows nothing about you but what you've willingly shared with her. Even though her interest fades so quickly after catching her, she'll do absolutely anything to get the woman she wants."

_Okay, that's _definitely _creepy._ Aoi wondered why their suspect would go to all that trouble just to get one woman into bed when she moved on to seducing another conquest so soon afterward. She mulled over this perturbing new information for a moment, and then decided to voice something she had been wondering about since they left the morgue this afternoon.

"Mai-chan," she said slowly. "You obviously know a lot about the suspect that isn't in the official report on her, and you're more familiar with the details of the case. Plus, you're already a lesbian, so it would be easier for you to act like you were interested in Hallard-san…"

Mai's lavender eyes clouded over slightly; she knew what the brunette was about to ask just as much as Aoi already knew the answer.

"So, why are you not the one going undercover? Why go to the trouble of having me transferred to the Homicide Division just to work on this one case?" She kept her voice gentle, trying not to sound accusatory or pry into her friend's private business.

Mai looked away, making a small, regretful noise in her throat. "She already knows I'm a cop," she admitted quietly after a moment. "Chie-chan would immediately be suspicious about my motives for contacting her, and she would never let slip anything about the murders to me." She fiddled with the edge of her skirt, not meeting the eyes of the other two women in the living room.

"Nao offered to go undercover herself, actually," Mikoto said suddenly from her seat on the floor, breaking her silence with a grin. "But she probably just wanted a chance to ogle Hallard's head of security at the club. Anyways, Nao was at the station when we first brought Hallard in for questioning, so we couldn't risk her being recognized. That's why we need someone from outside our department."

A slightly awkward quiet descended upon the three after that, with Mai still lost in thought, Mikoto watching her lover with golden eyes full of concern, and Aoi wondering if she had pressed her friend too far and dredged up unpleasant memories.

"I should elaborate," Mai began, but the blue-eyed detective interrupted her.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, Mai-chan. I've pried enough already."

"But if she really has been killing people, then she needs to be stopped," Mai insisted firmly. "So you need to know everything you can about her – anything that will help you get closer to her and find the information we need to ensure she never hurts anybody again." A hard, fierce light shone in the usually kind redhead's eyes.

"Like I said earlier, Chie-chan usually only fools around with a woman a few times before she loses interest and pursues another conquest. But occasionally – and I mean _very_ occasionally – she finds someone who manages to hold her attention for a little longer. She stays with that girl for a few weeks or maybe even a month or two because she mistakes lust and her need to be controlling for actual love…"

Mai closed her eyes for a moment, and then slowly let out a breath before continuing. "With me, it lasted almost a month before I realized she was not who I thought she was, that she was just playing with my heart for her own pleasure. So I told her was fed up and just left."

Mikoto reached over to grasp Mai's hand reassuringly as her girlfriend told the story.

"Chie-chan didn't take it well, to say the least. Her temper flared and she freaked out. I think it was the sting of being dumped for the first time that upset her rather than distress at losing me. I knew she wouldn't actually hurt me, but it was still kind of nerve-wracking for us both until she calmed down."

"I'm sorry Mai-chan," Aoi said sincerely, wishing her friend had told her earlier so the brunette could have been there to comfort her.

"It's okay, I'm over her." Mai flicked her wrist as though carelessly brushing a speck of dust off her sleeve. "It happened almost a year ago, in between our karaoke parties, and I didn't really want to bring it up the next time I saw you."

She glanced at the black-haired girl who still held her hand and brightened slightly. "Besides, the whole ordeal with Chie-chan made me realize my true feelings for Mikoto. I'm glad the two of us became more than friends." She shared a loving smile with the younger woman and Aoi turned slightly pink at the adorable sight. She too was glad that her closest friend had found someone to make her happy.

_Will I ever find someone to share my life with?_ she wondered, not for the first time. She clenched her jaw at the depressing thought. _Now is not the time_, Aoi reprimanded herself. _There's a killer on the loose! I can't be brooding over my lack of romance._ She dated a few guys in college, but never found anyone she wanted to dedicate a long-term relationship to. Even after graduating from the academy, she became so wrapped up in her career as a detective that she had not made time to start dating again.

"Well, anyways," Mai said, pulling Aoi out of her reverie, "That's enough about our suspect, for now. There are some more details in the case file, but I think you know enough already to have an idea."

She looked straight into her friend's bright blue eyes. "Do you really think you can do this, Aoi-chan?" she asked seriously. Mikoto was also regarding Aoi just as intently.

The brunette answered with a resolute nod. "I've never had to flirt with another woman before, but it won't be the first time I've had to fake interest in some criminal to get information out of them."

Despite the self-doubt that had been plaguing her all evening, Aoi did believe what she was saying. She was always nervous before assignments, but once she was undercover and face to face with the suspects, her courage and skill showed themselves. She knew this case would be no different, other than the change of targets.

Both the redhead and her black-haired girlfriend seemed satisfied with Aoi's response. The latter rose from where she had been sitting beside the sofa Mai and Aoi occupied, lifting the equipment bag she brought into the house with her.

She unzipped it and pulled out a very thin wire with a tiny microphone on the end. "You'll be wearing this when you go to The Blue Rose, so let's make sure it works," Mikoto said, reminding them of why the technician was here in the first place.

The golden-eyed girl indicated for Aoi to unbutton her blouse so the microphone could be clipped to her bra and concealed beneath her shirt.

Aoi complied without embarrassment; she had shared a dorm room with Mai in college and gone clothes shopping with both of them several times, so seeing each other change was nothing new. Besides, if she was going to pretend to be gay while undercover, she could not blush and squirm at every little physical contact with another woman.

"I'll be shadowing you in the club tomorrow night," Mai said as her girlfriend tweaked the little device. "Mikoto will hook me up to the three-way radio so I can hear through your wire and also communicate with her and Nao-chan in the surveillance van outside."

"But what if Hallard-san sees you?" Aoi asked.

"If she does, she won't be alarmed." Mai waved her hand dismissively. "She knows our department has been investigating her for weeks, so she will probably just ignore me and figure that I'm hanging out in the club trying to dig up some dirt on her."

She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully and added, "Besides, I doubt she will kick me out. Chie-chan would only see that as meaning she was afraid of me and the other detectives, and fear is the ultimate sign of weakness to her."

"Which is why it is of the utmost importance that you be completely confident when you go in there tomorrow night," Mikoto put in as she fiddled with the tiny wire. "Or at least don't let her know you're nervous."

"That's right." Mai's fiery locks swayed again as she nodded emphatically. "If she catches even the tiniest hint of uncertainty or if you let slip something you shouldn't have, she'll be on to you like a shark that's tasted blood in the water. And if she figures out you're really an undercover cop… Well, I don't even want to consider _that_."

Aoi did not either. From what Mai had told her about the woman and what she'd read in the case report, she was certain she did not want to get on Chie Hallard's bad side. She stomped firmly on the self-doubt that made her stomach tighten uncomfortably. _I can do this_, she reassured herself._ I've had to assume a false identity before and cozy up to a bunch of evil, disgusting men. This won't be any more difficult._

Mikoto seemed to have caught Aoi's uncertainty, for she flashed a comforting grin at her when she straightened, finally finished attaching the wire to the inside of the brunette's shirt where it would be safely hidden during her undercover activities.

"Alright then. Let's see if this works." Mikoto carefully hooked an earpiece into the hair behind Mai's ear, letting the bright orange strands fall so that they obscured the small electronic device from view.

After successfully testing whether the microphone worked and Mai could hear Aoi even when in the other rooms of the house, the blue-eyed woman's friends repacked the sound equipment and took their leave.

"We'll come by tomorrow night to hook the wire up again." Mai leaned in to give Aoi an encouraging hug, and then she and her girlfriend went out to their car. The night had long since fully set in, blanketing the town at the foothills of the mountains in a darkness that was relieved only by the half moon and the winking stars.

Aoi waved the other two police officers off and then shut the door of the small cover house, leaning against it for a moment and closing her eyes.

_So, basically my to-do list for this week consists of: 1) pretend to be a lesbian, 2) flirt with another lesbian and play hard-to-get, and 3) seduce aforementioned lesbian until she just happens to provide evidence confirming her involvement in the murders of three middle-aged businessmen_.

It should be a piece of cake.

She groaned and pressed her palms against her eyelids. There was really no point worrying like this, she told herself. When the time came, she would either be able to do it or she would not. Until then, all she could do was prepare as best she could.

Aoi moved through the small house, locking the doors and turning off the lights before proceeding to the bedroom. She flopped onto the king-sized bed, but not before removing two items from her baggage.

The first was the official case file with details of the three murders and the only suspect. Aoi wanted to read it through one last time before tomorrow's undercover mission.

The second object was much more pleasant, and the young brunette had chosen it because she did not want to look at gruesome photographs of mutilated corpses alone. It was a soft stuffed penguin dressed smartly in a miniature tuxedo, with button eyes, a stubby yellow beak, and the most adorable black velvet bow tie.

She cuddled her favorite plushie under her arm as she flipped through the various papers of the file and carefully perused the information they held. She kept turning pages slowly until she came to something that stopped her in her tracks: a colored surveillance photograph of the possible killer.

It was the first that the detective had seen of Chie Hallard herself. Apparently, this picture had been taken without the target's knowledge, for the tall woman dressed in dark colors was turned slightly away from the camera, although her face was still visible. Locks of silky-looking charcoal hair brushed the nape of her neck, with a few strands falling across her forehead. The suspect's face was devilishly handsome, yet the graceful curve of her jawline and cast of her soft brown eyes gave her an unmistakably feminine look.

_She's gorgeous_, Aoi found herself thinking. Then she shook her head abruptly. Where had that thought come from? _I must be tired or something._ Yet her sky blue eyes dropped once again to stare at the picture.

"Tall, dark, and handsome indeed," she murmured. She could understand what drew so many women to the mysterious nightclub owner.

The photo continued to hold her gaze as her heart fluttered in apprehension. Aoi knew she was a skilled undercover detective, and she wanted to show her friends and colleagues that their trust in her abilities was not misplaced. Besides, the purpose of this assignment was to catch a murderer and bring her to justice. _That's why I joined the police force_, she reminded herself._ To make sure that criminals are put away like they deserve._

Yet despite all that, she could not put out the nervous bundle of excitement and anxiety that had been burning inside her ever since she was assigned to solve these killings. Seeing an actual image of the woman she was supposed to flirt with had only stoked the flames.

She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. The niggling fact that their suspect was powerful, wealthy, roguishly good-looking, and extremely sexually confident to boot was not very helpful in regards to boosting her confidence; Aoi was all too aware that she was much more plain and inexperienced by comparison. There was one thing she was certain of, however.

Tomorrow was going to be quite a night.

* * *

lol, I got so many positive responses about Sergei's death that I decided to kill off the other two most hated men from the series. Sorry for making Yukariko die too, but I never really liked her.

This chapter was basically one huge info dump about Chie. Kinda long and boring, but hopefully it answered some questions people had. The main romance and mystery plots will move more quickly now that the background details are out of the way.

Our black-haired charmer will be introduced next chapter when Aoi goes on her first undercover visit to The Blue Rose. ;)


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